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Hockey

Scheifele, Hall get six points apiece as Barrie beats Ottawa 7-3

It was a busy night for goalie Keegan Wilson of the Ottawa 67's as the traffic outside his net thickens during 1st period OHL action against the Barrie Colts, Thursday.
MARKWANZEL/THE BARRIE EXAMINER/QMI

Mark Scheifele and Zach Hall had six points apiece as the Colts pounded the Ottawa 67's 7-3.

"We've got a lot of confidence, and we just want to keep going out there and winning games," said Hall of a Colts team that has now won eight in a row.

Scheifele, who had and a hat trick and three assists, can't remember the last time he put up a six-spot.

"Not for a very long time," Scheifele said. "Maybe I haven't ever.

"It was a fun night tonight and I'm glad we got the win."

The point totals were, in no small part, thanks to five power-play goals on eight attempts.

"Just working in practice, we worked really hard on the power play," Hall said. "We went over things and tried to get open and it paid off."

The opening period saw a number of good chances for each team, but it was the Colts that made the most of their opportunities.

Barrie struck first on the power play, when Hall found Anthony Camara at one side of the goal.

The winger quickly one-timed a pass to Scheifele, who fired it past 67's starter Keegan Wilson.

Ottawa evened the score soon after on its man advantage, when Cody Ceci snapped a shot from the point that appeared to hit something before beating Barrie netminder Mathias Niederberger.

The Colts stuck with what was working and pulled ahead on a nearly identical play to their first goal.

Hall once again fed Camara down low, and he sent a feed over to Scheifele, this time standing on Wilson's right.

Scheifele blasted it past the former Stayner Siskin, giving Barrie a 2-1 advantage.

"We studied things this week with our coaches and (what to look for), and we attacked," Hall said.

The Colts nearly went up 3-1 moments later when, on the same shift, Brendan Perlini narrowly missed a backhander and Andreas Athanasiou wired one off of the crossbar.

But Barrie would get its 3-1 lead going into the first intermission thanks to Camara, who showed good hand-eye coordination to knock home an opportunity with 35 seconds left in the period.

"We've got a full lineup of guys that can score and it's a big help," said Colts forward Tyson Fawcett.

The Colts kept up their man-advantage magic in the second period, as the same trio of Hall, Scheifele and Camara hooked up again.

Camara's initial shot from the faceoff circle was stopped by Wilson, but the puck slipped behind him to where Hall was waiting to bury it, making it 4-1 Barrie.

Niederberger faced a lot of rubber on Thursday, making 34 saves through two periods, but he'd probably like to have the second goal against back.

Dante Salituro sent a pass to Remy Giftopoulos, who was entering the high slot, and the 67's veteran took a low shot that beat Niederberger along the ice, keeping Ottawa back just 4-2 after 40 minutes.

Some exceptional passing in the third by a couple of OHL standouts helped set a rookie up for his first-career goal.

Hall and Athanasiou did some great work behind the net to set up Tyson Fawcett, who was all alone in front of the net.

The Barrie native went top corner to make it 5-2.

"I saw Hall going behind the net and the defenceman slide in with him, so I went in front and Hall made an unbelievable pass," Fawcett said. "I was glad it went in and I'm happy to get the monkey off my back.

"I can really learn a lot from those guys," Fawcett added. "They make great passes and set guys up."

Ottawa brought it back to 5-3 when Tyler Graovac snapped a low shot that beat Niederberger glove side, but Barrie regained its three-goal cushion on Hall's second of the night.

Scheifele would get his hat trick - and both he and Hall would reach point No. 6 - on a late man advantage, where the Winnipeg Jets prospect didn't get all of a shot, but managed to still put it past Wilson.

"I was happy that Hall was feeding me passes and other guys were finishing, too," Scheifele said.

"It was a great all-around effort tonight."

Athanasiou's third-period assist increased his scoring streak to nine games, while Scheifele, at least for now, leads the league at 19 points.

Barrie will face another high-flying team Saturday when it hosts the London Knights.